You Can't Save Me
by kittykat-777
Summary: Tess is broken. Can anyone put the pieces back together? Rated for violence.
1. Chapter 1

Tess Tyler looked around nervously. She didn't know how her mother was going to react at her almost falling off the stage. Oh no Tess thought She doesn't look very happy. "Tess darling why don't we go for a little walk around the lake?" her mom said with a big smile to the people watching. Of course thought Tess you have to uphold an image when you're a pops tar, right? "Come on honey," her mom was saying. Anyone who was listening would have thought her mom simply wanted to talk, but Tess knew better then to even be hopeful. As Tess reluctantly followed she heard the others sing the finally song. That was supposed to be me up there she thought sadly. As soon as they got out the door he mom exploded at her "You can't even get one thing right, can you? Why did I get stuck with you, I mean you're father's just as responsible for you as I am. But at least he had the common sense to leave before you became like this!" Tess was too used to her mothers rants. Usually she would storm away and call her later, either too drunk to know she was talking to her child (then Tess would have to call a cab for her) or she would say sorry and that it would never happen again. Of course she never kept that promise, but it was nice to hear her mom be civil to he for once. "Are you even listening to me !"shrieked her mom "I canceled some very important appointments to hear you mess up! When you fall you get up and you go again! The audience loves that! It shows character!" Suddenly T.J.'s hand reached out and slapped her daughter on her face. Hard.

Tess staggered back a few paces, her hand on her cheek. That wasn't unusual, but usually that only happened when she was very, very drunk. Her mom walked back up to her and said "I wish I never gave birth to a spoiled little brat like you. When your father left I should have given you straight to an adoption agency, but no! I was stupid enough to think I could raise you a horrible little piece of trash like you!" Tess almost broke down right there a d then, but she held it all back. T.J. slapped her again. This time so hard that Tess' head flew back into a tree that had been right behind her without her noticing. "Goodbye," her mom said stiffly.

Tess sat there for a few seconds before realizing some thing was now sliding down her back. What in the… Tess thought. She put her hand on her neck and, science there was no light, rubbed her fingers together. Oh crap She thought I'm bleeding. Evidently her mother's slap had been so strong her head had gotten beaten up pretty badly. Oh well maybe I'll finally do some thing useful and bleed to death cause I'm 100 sure no one wants me. She sighed and headed to the lake. Or maybe I can drown Tess sighed as she looked at the beautiful lake and the moon danced on the water. She got up and sat in a canoe. Soon she was way out in the water and decided to float for a while. And then suddenly she heard a noise. It was Shane and Mitchie. I so don't need this Tess thought miserably. But there was no way out of it. Suddenly she remember d the probably already formed bruise and the blood flowing freely from the back of her head. Thank God for the darkness she thought. She started to paddle back and once she got to the shore they were just leaving. "What are you doing here" she replied quickly. She was going to break, she knew it and she wasn't going to do it around them. Trying to hide her injuries wasn't helping much. "Look, just go away cause we don't need your spoiled butt here tonight and we don't want you to ruin this evening" Shane was looking at her with pure venom in his eyes. "Shane-" Mitchie started. But Shane didn't let her continue "Look at her, Mitchie!" Shane exclaimed "She isn't exactly harmless! You can't let her get the best of you!"

Tess had heard enough. She pulled the canoe to the shore and ran as fast as she could to the woods. She vaguely heard Shane yell "Good riddance!" after her, but she didn't care. She was now running full speed ahead, tripping and stumbling through the woods over tree stumps. Finally she fell down and she stayed down. She sat there and just sat for a long time. She didn't cry, she just sat. After a while she heard Shane and Mitchie walk back through the woods, laughing at each other. Apparently Mitchie had tipped the boat over when she stood up and they couldn't get back because they kept rowing in circles. Obviously they had forgotten about her. Tess sighed. She hadn't expected them to remember her, but Mitch had kind of defended her. Who cares? she thought With that thought she drifted off to sleep.

Tess woke up, as you can imagine, not feeling so well. The sun, thankfully, had barely risen in the sky. Sighing Tess got up and made her way to her cabin to wash up.

**Okay, so what do you think? It's my first story, so try to help me out. Review please. I'll keep going, even if only one person wants me to go on. I accept constructive criticism, but be polite!**

**Thanx for reading!.**


	2. Chapter 2

**I don't own camp Rock or the song lyrics (Perfect by Simple Plan) Happy Reading! **

Once Tess got back to her cabin, she realized that Peggy and Ella weren't there. She felt like crying. You're a big fat baby she thought to herself. She gulped down some air and walked over to the full-sized mirror. I look like crap she thought. Her face had a large purple and green bruise on her left cheek. The clothes she had been wearing were dirty from sitting in the woods all night. The back of her head was now crusted in blood. She hoped that her hair would cover that up. Taking a shower first she washed out the blood and, making sure it didn't stat bleeding again, carefully combed her hair over it. She sat down on the stool behind her dresser and began applying her make-up. There was no trace of a bruise on her face by the time she was done. Putting on some lip gloss she looked around for her favorite outfit. She found her red skinny jeans in a drawer next to her bed. Unlike most people assumed, her favorite color was red, not pink. She pulled on the pants and looked for her tee-shirt. She found it sticking out one of her bags. It was a white tee with red writing on it. Some of them were quotes, but they were overlapping so much that you couldn't make out the words unless you looked carefully. She smiled as she remembered when she, Peggy, and Ella read all of them together. No more thinking of that she commanded herself. She slipped on her red wrist warmer and, of course, the charm bracelet her mom had given her.  
She looked into the mirror and cocked her head to the side. She hadn't straightened her hair today, so it had natural waves in it. It looked horrible. With that thought, she opened a dresser drawer and took out her hair straightener. It was a metallic silver color. Peggy had given it to her a few years ago because, while they had been giving each other makeovers, Peggy had straightened her hair. After words, when Tess let slip that she didn't own a straightener, Peggy had insisted on giving Tess hers. "I don't need it, you should have it, Tess. Your hair looks beautiful like that. Beside, my hair is naturally straight." "I couldn't," Tess argued. "You have to," Peggy said "or else I won't be your friend anymore" She knew it was a childish threat, but it always worked on Tess. "Alright'" Tess agreed reluctantly. Peggy grinned. Sighing at the memory, Tess set off to the bathroom to start working on her hair.  
While she was straightened her hair she began to wonder about what the others were doing. She was so preoccupied that she hadn't noticed that, in the process of straightening her hair, she had gotten her fingers in the middle of the two furiously hot plates of metal. She gasped, but had back all the screams and curses that were building in her throat. Dropping her hair straightener, she ran to the bathroom and poured water over the still scaling burn.  
Two minutes later Tess was heading back to her Mirror. Once she got there she got a surprise. "No," she gasped "no, no, no, no, no, no!" She began to get hysterical. Get a grip she ordered herself. She gulped down air and bent over to pick up the two pieces of her now broken straightener. It wasn't like she couldn't get a new one. But deep down she knew that wasn't the problem. It had once belonged to her friend. Or her used-to-be friend.  
She tried in vain to put the two pieces together. Finally giving up, she threw the pieces into her duffel bag. Most of it had been straightened.  
By the time she had finished, it was almost 8:00. Figuring she could just skip breakfast, because who gives a care anyway?  
Tess headed out to the lake. Once she got there she sat down on the edge of the dock. Looking out at the water she started singing:  
I try hard to make it  
I just want to make you proud  
I'm never gonna be good enough for you  
I can't pretend that  
I'm alright  
And you can't change me

'Cuz we lost it all  
Nothing lasts forever  
I'm sorry  
I can't be perfect  
Now it's just too late and  
We can't go back  
I'm sorry  
I can't be perfect

Tess pulled out a small notebook from her back pocket and jotted down her new lyrics, trying out different melodies. Maybe I could make a song out of this she thought hopefully. But it's not like I'll ever be able to sing it in public. Tess hated most of the songs she sang in public with a burning passion. But when your mom sings about the same things, that's what people expected. It was like the status quo. Tess looked down at the blue water below. She could make out her distorted reflection looking right back up at her. She was an ugly, bloated, selfish, bitch. No wonder no one likes me she thought bitterly. She was tempted to just jump off the dock right then and there and drown, but suddenly she heard a noise coming from the woods behind her.  
Suddenly Catalyin, Mitchie, Ella, Peggy, Lola, Shane, Sander, Barron, Nate, and Jason steeped out of the trees.  
"Hello!" said Jason, completely oblivious to the tension in the air. "What are you doing here?" Shane asked, voice full of venom. "I didn't know that it was illegal," Tess responded "I'll get out of your way." Tess got up and walked passed them stiffly.

At The Lake

"What was that for?" Jason asked "She didn't do any thing to you" "Well, yah, she kind of did," replied Shane. "Like what?" asked Nate. They all stared at him like he was crazy. That is, except, of course, Jason who was looking back at the trees in the woods (presumably for birds). "it can't have been that bad." Nate said. They gave him a glare. "Well……" Caitlin started, and proceeded to tell the whole story.  
"That is a bit much," Jason, who had stopped bird watching long enough to listen in on the conversation. "Yah," Nate agreed. "But she did apologize," Mitchie pointed out. "Yah, after she knew she knew she couldn't win anything!" Shane exclaimed "She was trying to suck up to you guys so she could be your friends and rip you to shreds!" Jason looked bewildered, "She didn't look that violent to me!" A look of terror came over his face. "It's an expression, Jason," Nate said in a board, yet exasperated tone. "Oh" Jason said "Wait, what's an expression?" Jason looked truly puzzled. Shane, sensing an argument coming said "It's saying something that you don't really mean." "O.K." Jason said, looking content. "Maybe we should give her a chance," Ella said tentatively. "No!" Shane shouted so loudly that Ella jumped. "Whatever," Ella mumbled. "Let's head back, we can have breakfast," Mitchie suggested. "Sure," agreed Sander. All the others nodded in agreement

**I'm so, so sorry I haven't updated earlier! Please vote on my poll because I don't know who Tess will be with yet! I'll try to get the next chapter up as soon as possible.**


	3. Chapter 3

**I don't own anything, except for the the very crappy song in the middle.**

Tess walked around her cabin and slowly began to pack her things up. Camp would be over in three more days. She remembered her mom promising at the beginning of the summer that she would come pick her up personally because she didn't drop her off. Back then Tess had actually believed that her mom had meant it. She now knew that her mom wouldn't pick her up even if she hadn't fallen off the stage. Probably. Maybe. Damn it! Why couldn't she ever do anything right? Maybe, if she had not fallen her mom would have seen how good of a singer she was. Then, maybe, just maybe, they would have spent more time together.

Tess began throwing things violently into her suitcase. She threw an old note book into her suit case. It opened up and papers spilled out onto the floor. _Crap_ Tess thought silently to herself. She bent down ad began picking up loose papers that she had stuck into it. She looked through it and realized it as her first song notebook. She had begun writing songs when her mom had started beating her up. The very first song she had ever wrote went like this:

So when you go

I'll watch your back.

I'm not gonna cry

I know that for a fact

I'll sing your favorite song for you

And maybe that will get me through

Cause we all gotta keep movin' on

I know it'll make me strong

It'll be hard without you by my side

But somehow I know….

It'll be alright

The song was for her father. He left when she was 4, almost 5. He had taken Tess' sister with him. Even though her mom had forbidden her to talk to them, Tess had found ways. Once she had asked her father why he had taken her sister and not her. Her father had said that she was still a baby that needed her mom, and 24 hour care he couldn't provide. Her sister, Tamara, had been 7. She had once asked her mom if she could go visit her father in Maine, where they lived, but that had resulted in the worst beating of her life.

She stiffened thinking of it. Shoving the rest of the papers into her notebook, she decided to go take a walk. She got up, dusted her pants off and headed toward the door. As soon as she got outside she took a deep breath in. Her stomach growled, but she didn't pay any attention. She had barley eaten anything in the past few days. Once she had gone without food for a whole week. Of course, she had almost passed out at the end, but she had managed to get to some food quick enough. That was when Tess had learned that you should eat something at least every few days.

Without really knowing, her legs ad taken her to the lake. She, Peggy, and Ella always used to practice there, by the very boulder she was standing by. No one ever came by there. Then this year when she had insisted that anyone could hear them and steal their routine and they moved practice to the woods.

_She would have even hated herself_ she thought with disgust. It served her right that they didn't want to talk to her. Tess looked at the bolder and had an idea. She started climbing the it. After many, many tries to get up she finally managed to get herself about ¾ of the way up and she swung her leg to the top (which was not easy to do because she had skinny jeans). Using all of her might she hoisted the rest of her body over the side. It was probably almost four now. She was so spent that she collapsed right on to of the boulder.

Tess woke up a few hours later. Not remembering where she was, she almost fell off of the giant rock. Screaming, she caught herself just in time. Her hand flew to her mouth realizing that she had given her position away. Then she remembered that no one cared anyway. At first she relaxed a that thought, but then she became depressed.

She looked out at the sun set and sighed. It was so beautiful. Suddenly she remembered the yoga class that she and her mom had taken once. She crossed her legs and put her hands on her knees. She took a deep breath in and a let it out. She kept doing that until her mind was empty. It felt like she was cleaning a very messy library. The books were like her memories. She would open one up and decide where it should go. Horror? Her mom beating her up. Romance? Her ex holding her in his arms. Comedy? Her , Peggy, and Ella laughing over a joke. The list went on. When she was finished she had all of her memories "cleaned up" or so to speak. She opened her eyes and was surprised that it was pretty much dark. Deciding she better get up and go back because it was getting chilly she stood up.

But then she tripped and started to fall. She tried to catch herself again, but she was to late. _Well, this isn't good _she thought to herself vaguely. She was either tumbling to the ground, headfirst, where she was sure she would crack her head open, or the lake, where she would drown because she had never bothered to learn to swim. _Yes, this definitely was not good_. It felt like she was falling in slow motion .She began to scream, but only half a scream came out before she realized that this was what she had wanted to happen, right? But now that it was actually happening she was terrified. She opened her mouth to scream again, but the only thing that had come out was bubbles. I guess that's it she thought to herself miserably. She began to sink down, down, down. Then she felt some thing around her.

Suddenly her head broke the surface. She saw a concerned face looking at her. Could it really be? _No_ she thought _that's impossible, on one cares._ She tried to say his name, but only water came out.. She then realized that there was flat surface beneath her. She got up, trying to say thank you, but again, but all that came out was waster, again. "Shhhh," he said, laying her back down gently. Her stomach gave a sudden lurch. She flopped over and threw up what she assumed was the rest of the water she had swallowed. Then, slowly buy surly, Tess drifted into unconsciousness. But that wasn't before she felt someone kiss her forehead . She smiled, knowing that finally someone wanted her. Even if she was dreaming.

**I wrote all that in one day, which is a record for me. I was starting to run out of ideas, though. Thus the sorting of the memories. If you have any ideas, lease share. Thank you so, so much for all of the reviews! (The song from the last chapter was Prefect by Simpel Plan). Thank you for taking the time to read my writing. I'll post the next chapter ASAP, but school starts in less then a week:( Alas, my summer has come to an end.**


	4. Chapter 4

Tess woke up with a start. She had the worst dream ever. It was about falling into the lake. _But, then again,_ she thought to herself, thinking of the person who had saved her, _it wasn't that bad._ Suddenly she realized that her close were wet. Then it hit her. It hadn't been a dream. She had really been rescued. Hope bloomed inside of her like a flower. _Somebody cares enough to save me_ she thought. _But who was it?_ Tess thought back . She strained her memory but couldn't think of the face she had seen._ Come on Tess, now isn't the time to forget_ she scolded herself. But no matter how hard she tried she couldn't remember the face.

She looked around, but there was no one in her cabin. She felt like screaming. She went through a list of campers in her mind: Shane. She laughed out loud. He would have watched her drown. Jason. He probably would have tried to ask her what's wrong before realizing that she was drowning. Ummm…… She thought hard. What's the other one's name? Nate. _Maybe_ she thought.

Then she realized that she was shivering. She got up and went to the bathroom to take a shower. By the time she was stepping into the warm water, she was shaking uncontrollably._ Who is it? Who is it? Who is it?_ She kept on thinking to herself, getting angrier and angrier. When she was shampooing she scrubbed down to her scalp. She had forgotten about what had happened two days ago. Letting out a cry of pain, she looked at her hands. They were covered in blood. _Shit_ she cursed herself. Her head was bleeding again._ Aren't I smart?_ she thought sarcastically.

She got out of the shower and wrapped a towel around her body. Then she took out her blow drier and began blow drying her hair and scalp. Soon there was blood crusted around the wound again. With a satisfied sigh she took her hair drier and wound the cord around it again. Then she realized that she was freezing. Quickly she went into the main cabin and put on her warmest P.J.'s, wich, unfortunately, consisted of a pair of short shorts and a short-sleeved tee shirt. The clock read 2:00 AM, so Tess crawled back into bed and piled on the covers. Finally she drifted off into a deep sleep.

Shane's Cabin

_What have I done?_ Shane thought desperately. He had been in the woods when he heard the first scream, but he just brushed it off. Then he heard the second scream a while later and ran in the general direction that it had come from. When he saw Tess in the lake he contemplated leaving her there. But then suddenly he remembered something."

_"Tess, jump in, the water's nice today!" Ella shouted to her friend, who was dangling her legs from the dock. It was three years ago, the day after final jam. Most of the campers were in the water already. "Yah, jump on in!" Shouted Peggy from her little floty- doughnut thingy. "Umm, well, you see-" Tess started, but was cut off when someone pushed her in the water. She screamed as she went under. They all laughed at her, but stopped short when they realized she wasn't coming back up. Shane, Nate, and Jason exchanged glances and went under searching for Tess. Shane couldn't find Tess anywhere he looked. By that time more people were looking for her. It had to have been at least one minute by now. The next time he resurfaced, he saw a very pale Tess in Jason's arms. _Oh crap_ he thought. Jason heaved Tess onto the dock. "Who knows CPR?" Nate asked frantically. "I took a class at the "Y" a few years ago," Peggy said as she swam to the dock. For a few minutes as Peggy performed CPR no one spoke. And with a shuddering gasp Tess' eyes opened and she sat up, coughing up water. They all seemed to breath again. "How are you Tess?" Ella asked gently. "I will wring whoever pushed me into the water's neck," she joked shakily. They all smiled. She was O.K.  
_

"Shane? Shane?" the words shattered his memory. "Huh?" Shane said dumbly. He looked up and saw Nates' concerned face looking back at him. "What's up with you, dude? I mean, seriously. We were talking about how to approach the label with_ Play My Music._ I was thinking we could record it and give them a CD." "But I think we should do something more dramatic," interrupted a voice, and for the first time he noticed Jason was there, too. "So maybe," Jason continued "We could invite them here and perform the song like we did for Beach Jam, right? Then they'll know that other people do like it" Nate looked thoughtful for a moment. "You know what? That's actually a pretty good idea. What do you think Shane?" Nate turned toward me. "O.K.," he agreed with as much enthusiasm he could manage. "I'll go talk to Brown." Nate said, and walked out. "I'll go with you!" Jason declared. "You want to come to?" he asked. "Naw, I'll stay here," Shane told him. "Okey dokie," Jason said.

When Shane was sure they were gone he paced around his cabin. He truly hated Tess Tyler. So why had he saved her? He honestly had no idea. With a groan he spread out across his bed. O.K. so saving her was fine, he wouldn't want anyone to die, even if he didn't really like them, but what about what about what he had done after that.

He could have just left her by the river when he knew that she was alive, but her had taken her to her cabin. He had tucked her into her bed, to embarrassed to change her into clean clothes, so her just put more blankets that he'd found in her bags on top of her. Then he left her noticed a giant bruise on her cheek. What had happened? Had she crashed into something before he'd gotten there? He hadn't seen it on her face this morning, had he? No, he was pretty sure he hadn't. It made him wonder…. He'd walked over and traced the bruise gently with his fingers. Tess winced and shifted in her bed. Then Shane had done the weirdest thing ever. He started singing his favorite lullaby.

May all your dreams bloom like daisies in the sun  
May you always have stars in your eyes  
May you not stop running on until your race is won  
May you always have blue skies

A dream is something all your own to keep within your heart  
To build on when you're glad or when your world's been torn apart  
A dream is something all your own that no one else can steal  
A dream is something you can make come real

May all your dreams bloom like daisies in the sun  
May you always have stars in your eyes  
May you not stop running on until your race is won  
May you always have blue skies

Now you can share a laugh with any stranger on the street  
And you can share your money with a beggar on the street  
But you can only share your dream when love has set it free  
So please, won't you share yours with me?

May all your dreams bloom like daisies in the sun  
May you always have stars in your eyes  
May you not stop running on until your race is won  
May you always have blue skies

His mother always used to sing that song to him until he was about five, when he'd insisted that he was to old for that.

I the present Shane sighed. The world was way to confusing, that's what he thought.

**Yay! Another chapter up! Please, please review. You have no idea how happy one review makes me. (Still not sure if I want to make this a shess, so offer your opinion, please). Thank you so, so much for reading this. The song is from a childrin's luliby site. (I own nothing!) **


	5. Chapter 5

**I'm so, so sorry for not updating sooner, but I have about a gazillion things for homework and I swear my science teacher is the devil in disguise. This is not my best chapter because I wrote it in all my spare time, so it may seem a little weird and it may not flow well. But earthier way here it is! I would like to thank mrsjjonas and Underdog.Love for keeping with the story for so long. (This is like the longest author's note ever, I'm sorry!) BTW: I don't own anything!! Thanks for reading! **

Tess sat up in bed. She was not feeling good at all. Her stomach lurched, but there was no food in it to throw up. She got up and stumbled into the bathroom. She sat there for a while and then suddenly felt bust of power coming on and she decided to go to the mess hall. She dressed quickly in a pair of boot-leg jeans and a pale blue T that said "Love Like Winter" in white fancy script.

Tess stepped out into the cool mornings air and began walking at a brisk pace towards the mess hall. She was hopping to get there before anyone else did. She approached the door tentatively and cracked the door open a little. The only person in there was Connie, the chef. _And Mitchie's mom_ she added too herself. She probably hated Tess because she ripped her daughter to shreds in front of the whole camp. Tess contemplated just leaving when suddenly Connie looked up from the cookbook she was leafing through and said "Tess! I haven't seen you in a few days. I was starting to worry about you." Tess took a few tentative steppes into the hall. _She was… worried about me. _Tess was utterly confused. For all intensive purposes Connie should have hated her. "Tess, honey, are you O.K.? Your looking kind of pale. Do you need Mrs. Rodriguez to give you a check-up?" "That's fine," Tess said "I'm alright" Connie frowned, but said "Well, help yourself to breakfast."

Just then the door opened behind them. "Hi Mrs. Torres!" Came an all to familiar voice. "Oh, hi Shane. There's no food today that'll give you an allergic reaction, so dig in. I need to go check on something." And to Tess's horror, Mrs. Torres got up and left. Shane, who still hadn't spotted Tess, was happily humming to himself. Tess looked around desperately search for something to hide behind. Seeing nothing she wondered if she could make it out the door. Suddenly all the fatigue that she had felt when she had gotten up that morning came rushing back to her. Even though she knew that eating would make things better, she wanted to go back to her room. "Tess? Is that you?" Tess heard Shane's voice as if it were far away. But oddly enough his voice sounded worried instead of harsh, like she had expected. "Are you O.K.? maybe you should sit down." Again, his voice sounded gentle and Tess wondered vaguely if she was dreaming. She heard herself say O.K. and she started walking towards a table. But then the world shifted and all she saw was black.

Shane's POV

Suddenly Tess crumpled down before his eyes. She hit the floor with a dull thud and Shane raced forward. Tess looked very pale and thin and suddenly he remembered that falling into a lake wasn't the greatest thing for her either. He decided that the best thing to do was to try to find Mrs. Torres or Mrs. Rodriguez to help. As he bent down and scooped Tess up, he couldn't help but notice that she weighed next to nothing. Had he seen he her in the lunch room lately? He really hadn't been paying much attention to what had been going on with Tess, but he didn't think he saw her around much. Maybe Peggy or Ella or even Catherine or Mitchie would have noticed. He raced through the kitchen trying to find someone. Suddenly he noticed Mrs. Torres coming up the back steps grinning, but abruptly stopped when she saw the scene laying out before her. "Take her down two cabins and across," she instructed Shane. He nodded and began walking towards the door, which Mrs. Torres held open for him.

Shane ran across the ground toward the cabin Mrs. Torres had specified. She was running, but couldn't keep up with Shane's fast pace. Shane banged open the door to the nurses office and called out "Mrs. Rodriguez! Are you here?!" A groggy looking woman came down stairs in a bathrobe and flannel pajamas. "What?" she grumbled, but instantly was awake when she saw the limp figure in Shane's arms. "Lay her down on the inspection table," she ordered. Shane did as he was told and gently set Tess down on the table. "Now, if you will wait outside I will make sure nothing's seriously wrong with her."

Mrs. Torres and Shane stood outside for a while and waited. Neither of them talked and they were both deep in their own thoughts. And then Mrs. Rodriguez came out and said "Tess has hypothermia, we're going to have to check her into a hospital." "Then what are we waiting for?" Shane said, trying not to shout. "Well first we have to call her mother to see if they have health insurance or anything like that." Mrs. Rodriguez explained. "Her mother is freaking T.J. Tyler, I'm sure that she'll be able to afford it!" Shane couldn't help but shout now. Why couldn't they just take Tess to a hospital then worry about the details later. "It's standard camp protocol, Shane we have to do it," Mrs. Rodriguez replied coolly. "Fine," Shane grumbled, defeated. "Connie, can you stay here and keep an eye on Tess. If she wakes up call me right away," Mrs. Rodriguez commanded. "Alright," Mrs. Torres agreed. She went inside and Mrs. Rodriguez started walking toward Uncle Brown's cabin and Shane started after her.

When they arrived at the cabin a very sleepy-looking Uncle Brown cam to greet them. "What's up?"Uncle Brown asked "Shane, what did you do?" he teased. "I need to use the phone," Mrs. Rodriguez said. "Yah, sure," Brown said, letting them in. "You have the campers files in here, right?" "Yea, why?" "The Tyler girl has hypothermia, I need to call her parent," she explained.

Within five minutes the had successfully located Tess' mother's home and cell number and dialed the former. Mrs. Rodriguez had the phone to her ear and mouthed _answering machine_ to them. "Hello Ms. Tyler, this is Carmen Rodriguez from Camp Rock, the summer camp your daughter attends. Tess has come down with a severe case of hypothermia and we would like to get her to a hospital, but can not do so without your permission. Please call me back as soon as you can and I will try you on your cell phone." She hung up and picked up the receiver again, dialing a new number. Her face was tense for a few seconds, then she looked relieved. "Hello, Ms. Tyler?" then she frowned. "Are you feeling alright? Mrs. Tyler, are you drunk?"

**Dun Dun Dun! So, what do you think will happen? Please leave a review, but try not to be harsh. Love ya!**


	6. Chapter 6

**O.K. so I was trying to update, but my account kept on squeezing my story into a tiny little box-like thing. If anyone knows how to fix it, please tell me in a review ( I don't know how to PM. Aren't I smart?) Well, either way, here's the next chapter. Hope you like it. Thank you to Underdog.Love for the awesome idea! **

Shane could hardly believe what he was hearing. T.J. Tyler-_the T.J. Tyler_ who was a famous pop star and everyone adored-was drunk at -he glanced down at his watch-9:00 in the morning? That wasn't right._ Hey, this time I'm on the other side of the spoiled pop-star act,_ he mused silently to himself. Mrs. Rodriguez was continuing on in the conversation. "Ms. Tyler, hello? Are you still there? This is Carmen Rodriguez from Camp Rock, the summer camp your daughter is attending!" her voice was loud now. Shane glanced over at his uncle who looked almost as surprised as he was. "Yes! Camp Rock! Your daughter, Tess, is sick! She has a severe case of hypothermia!" Mrs. Rodriguez was now at the loudest she could possibly go without waking up the entire camp. Then a look of disgust came over her face, but she quickly composed herself. "I just need your permission to take her to a hospital," Mrs. Rodriguez said stiffly "O.K. then. Good-bye for now." She slammed the receiver down. "Brown, I need to talk to you," she glanced at Shane, then added "Privately. "Sure thing," Brown replied "Shane, wait outside for us, kay?" Shane was pissed off right then, but seeing the two adults faces, he knew that there was nothing left to argue.

Outside Shane put his ear to the door and could clearly hear what they were saying. He made a mental note not to tell anyone anything important behind a Camp Rock cabin door. "Do you know what she said, Brown?" Mrs. Rodriguez shouted "'Let the little bitch die from it. To hell if I care,' She said that about her own child! Can you believe that selfish arrogant little piece of-" "Carmen!" Brown irrupted, "The best we can do now is to take Tess to a hospital," Brown was trying to calm her down. She took a deep breath and said "Yea, you're right. But I don't think we should tell anyone about Ms. Tyler's words, especially Shane. He would tell Tess and I need to speak to her before anyone tells her." Brown seemed to be considering and finally said "You're probably right. But do you think Tess is used to this kind of treatment? I mean her mom can't get drunk to much, can she? She's T.J. Tyler for the love of Pete." Brown said. "Brown, have you ever noticed that Ms. Tyler's whereabouts are normally not in the paper, like most pop stars are?"

Shane thought about it for a second. He had learned the hard way that nothing stayed a secret for long in Hollywood. He usually looked at the paper, and it was true that he hadn't seen anything about Ms. Tyler, but something that big can't stay a secret for long. _Nothing makes any sense, does it?_ he though wearily. N_othing in this world is supposed to make sense. It's one of God's little jokes. _His best friend had told him that when he was 12. _Well she was definitely right_ he thought.

"I guess. Look we need to get Tess to a hospital quickly." Brown said, trying to get her off the subject. "Fine, let me call 911. They should be here within the hour." _Within the hour! That wasn't good enough! What if Tess dies before they get here! Shane, calm down he ordered himself. It's going to be alright. By the time they get here I'm sure Tess will be feeling much better. She'll be awake and there will be no need for an ambulance._ Shane quickly pulled himself up and pretended to be pacing. His uncle came to the door and opened it up. "If you want to go see how Tess is doing, you can," he said. "Yah…O.K." Shane responded vaguely. He walked around and came up to the cabin just as Mrs. Torres was running from it. She looked happy, but kind of worried too. "Shane! Thank God you're here. Tess just woke up," Mrs. Torres grin started to fade as she went on "But science then she's been saying some pretty weird things. I need to go talk to Carmen and Brown, so can you keep an eye on her?" Shane nodded his head and hurried to the medical cabin.

When he got in he heard Tess' voice. But it didn't sound like her. She was no longer the bitchy, self-centered, egotistical, arrogant, and down right mean girl he was used to. No, this was a scared girl that Shane was not quite sure he knew. His breath caught when he heard what she was saying. "No, mommy, please not this time," he heard her whimper. "Please, I didn't meant to do it," she was getting hysterical. Shane couldn't take it any more. He ran over to her and wasn't prepared for the scene that met his eyes.

Tess was sitting on the bed with her legs folded on earthier side of her, clinging to the blanket as if it was her last tie to the universe. Her hair, he noticed for the first time, was wavy like it had been three summers ago instead of pin straight like had been this summer. Her cloths weren't like what she'd been wearing all summer, either. But he couldn't remember the expression she was wearing from either summer. Tears were streaming down her face and the look in her eyes….. She looked like she was sorry for what ever she thought she had done, but above all, she looked scared. Shane had been planning on shaking her until she snapped out of it. Now, however, he walked over to the bed and cradled Tess in his arms. She cried and cried until she finally hiccuped and looked up. She then did something she hadn't done in a while. She gave him a genuine Tess Tyler smile.

Just then the adults showed up, shattering the moment. Shane quickly, but gently put Tess down on the bed and Tess fought to regain her composure. "Tess ,honey, I'm so glad you're O.K.!" Mrs. Torres exclaimed throwing her arms around Tess in a motherly way. At first Tess looked shocked , but she soon recovered and hugged back. She looked happier then Shane had seen her all summer.

**Yea, I know that it was short & pretty pointless, but it's the best I can come up with right now, so bear with me on this. I love getting reviews, so don't hesitate to leave one! I'll try to make the next chapter more eventful, I don't think that this story isn't going to be too much longer. **

**Thanx for reading! **


	7. Chapter 7

**Hey! So I know that it's been a while science I've updated, but thank you to everyone who has reviewed! It means so much to me that you like the story! Remember to review. I don't own anything! (except for my version of Tess' father & her sister, but you don't really know them yet). So, enough with my pointless rantings, on with he story. Enjoy! **

Tess was feeling better then she had all year. She had eaten a bowl of Connie's chicken noodle soup after she had given Tess a hug so hard that she could barely breathe. Mrs. Rodriguez had decided that going to the hospital wasn't necessary, so Tess was spared the drama. If her fever got worse, though, she would most defiantly be going to the hospital.

It was now about 11:00 A.M. and she was working hard on a soduku puzzle from her puzzle book. It was a level four and she was stumped. "Maybe the 3 goes here… But then that 7 couldn't go there…" She hummed to herself, deep in thought.

"Tess? Is that you?" a voice came from the general area of the door. Suddenly a head popped up from behind the door. And to Tess' great surprise, Mitchie, Peggy, and Ella stood before her. "Hey." Mitchie said tentatively. "Hi," Tess responded. "Tess, I'm so sorry that Ella and I weren't there. We thought that you would want to be alone after Final Jam and Mitchie offered us some space, so…." she trailed off. Ella looked at Tess and ran over to her, giving her a bear hug for the first time all summer "I'm so sorry," She whispered to her quietly. Tess gave them all a genuine smile and said simply "It's O.K." Mitchie walked over and said "Even me?" Tess laughed a real laugh and said "I'm the one who should be apologizing to you! I've been a bee-otch to you all summer." There was a moment of silence, the they all burst into laughter. "I've never heard you say bee-otch Tess," Peggy said. "Well that's because I've never said it before!" Tess exclaimed.

Suddenly there was a knock on the door and Carmen's head poked through. "Tess I wanted to talk to you in private for a few minutes. It's important." Tess nodded and turned to Peggy, Mitchie, and Ella. "I'll see you guys around?" she said hopefully. "Definitely," Peggy said at the same tome that Ella had happily said "Absolutely!" Mitchie said, a second later "Bet on it." They each gave her a hug before they walked out.

Connie walked over to Tess and said quietly, not beating around the bush, "Tess does your mother beat you?" It took a few minutes to process what she had said. Tess thought of how she could have found out. Maybe someone had leaked it to the press. Or maybe Connie had seen a bruise and figured it out. "Tess. Are you alright?" Connie gave her a concerned look. Tess didn't know what to do. Should she tell Connie or not. She knew what she wanted to do. She wanted to tell her yes and have it all be over, But her mom was T.J. Tyler, for the love of Peat. If she said yes she would ruin her mom's career. Her mom would hate her and Tess did not want that to happen at all. But she couldn't go back to how it was before camp, now that she knew what it was like to have real friends. Almost like having a family.

Finally, Tess made up her mind. "No, why would you think that?" Tess said with foux surprise. "No reason honey. Just go back to sleep," Connie bent over and gave Tess a quick peck on her forehead . As she heard Connie's footsteps disappear she wondered what the nurse was thinking. But before she could think about it much there was a knock at the door. "Who is it?" Tess shouted. "Shane, Nate, and Jason. Can we come in?" Tess panicked. "Um… y-yeah I guess you c-can," she managed to stutter out.

In walked Connect 3, all of them smiling. Shane had on a rather nervous smile, Nate's looked shy and a little uncomfortable, Jason was…well Jason. He had a huge grin plastered on his face, looking completely genuine.

"Hey," Shane spoke first "how are you feeling? Better than this morning, I hope." Tess smiled and said "Yeah, I'm doing way better. Don't know what was up with me this morning. Sorry about that." She grinned and added "I heard that you guys were gonna be playn' your music today." Jason cracked up at the bad pun, but Nate groaned. "And Shane said you were different from last time. I don't think so." Jason said. Nate nodded in agreement. Shane just stared at her open-mouthed. He hadn't heard her crack a joke all summer. Did she have an epiphany or something? Nate looked down at his watch "Speaking of 'playn our music', we need to leave. Like, now. I'll see you around, Tess" Nate started to wave. "But we just got here!" Jason exclaimed "Besides, we don't play for a few hours." He added. "But it's the Farewell Jam and you guys haven't even started packing yet. Don't worry, you'll get to see Tess sooner or later." Nate started to drag his band mates out the door. Tess smiled and said "Go on I'll see you guys around. I still haven't finished packing yet." She made a face. Shane smiled thinking _We have our old Tess back_. Out loud he simply said "See you around." And with that the trio left.

Tess sighed and was suddenly very glad that they had allowed her to go back and sleep in her room. Slowly she got up, careful not to give herself a head rush like she had that morning when she had to go to the bathroom. She looked at her half-packed bags and sighed. It had almost slipped her mind that this was the last day at camp. She looked down at her floor and began to pack things up.

**So it's been a while science I updated last, and I'm sooo, soooo sorry about that XP. There's nothing major in this chapter, just the making up of old friends, but something major is gonna happen in the next chapter, so keep reading! I'll try to write & post it ASAP, but no promises. **

**Thanx for reading. **


	8. Chapter 8

**Hey! So here is the next chapter. I don't on anything (the song is Welcome to my Life by Simple Plan)! Enjoy!  
**

Tess had just finished shoving all of her stuff into her bag. "Why, in the name of God, did I pack so many things!?" she asked herself. "Need some help with that?" a voice came from the door. Tess jumped and flipped around with her purse at the ready in case she had to defend herself (that's what you get when you grow up in the city). "Whoa! Trying to knock me out or something. I was just trying to help!" Shane grinned at Tess and picked up one of her bags. "Give me a heart attack, why don't you!?" Tess shouted playfully. She tossed her purse over her shoulder and picked up two of her bags. "You might want to take it easy," Shane advised. Tess grinned and replied "I am."

They were about to walk out the door when Shane noticed one of Tess's bags was kind of shaped like…. "Hey Tess, I didn't know you played the guitar." "Huh? Oh, yeah. I'm not too bad either." she grinned. "Can I here you play?" Shane asked. Tess looked nervous "I-I-I ," she stuttered. "Come on, pleeeeease, Tess," Shane begged. "I guess, but no laughing," Tess said. Shane grinned in triumph "Pinky promise!" he said brightly.

Tess took out her guitar (which was acoustic, to Shane's surprise) and started to strum. And then she started to sing, much to both of their surprises:

Do you ever feel like breaking down?Do you ever feel out of place?Like somehow you just don't belongAnd no one understands youDo you ever wanna runaway?Do you lock yourself in your room?With the radio on turned up so loudThat no one hears you screamingNo you don't know what it's likeWhen nothing feels all rightYou don't know what it's likeTo be like meTo be hurtTo feel lostTo be left out in the darkTo be kicked when you're downTo feel like you've been pushed aroundTo be on the edge of breaking downAnd no one's there to save youNo you don't know what it's likeWelcome to my lifeDo you wanna be somebody else?Are you sick of feeling so left out?Are you desperate to find something more?Before your life is overAre you stuck inside a world you hate?Are you sick of everyone around?With their big fake smiles and stupid liesWhile deep inside you're bleedingNo you don't know what it's likeWhen nothing feels all rightYou don't know what it's likeTo be like meTo be hurtTo feel lostTo be left out in the darkTo be kicked when you're downTo feel like you've been pushed aroundTo be on the edge of breaking downAnd no one's there to save youNo you don't know what it's likeWelcome to my lifeNo one ever lied straight to your faceNo one ever stabbed you in the backYou might think I'm happy but I'm not gonna be okayEverybody always gave you what you wantedNever had to work it was always thereYou don't know what it's like, what it's likeTo be hurtTo feel lostTo be left out in the darkTo be kicked when you're downTo feel like you've been pushed aroundTo be on the edge of breaking downAnd no one's there to save youNo you don't know what it's like, what it's likeTo be hurtTo feel lostTo be left out in the darkTo be kicked when you're downTo feel like you've been pushed aroundTo be on the edge of breaking downAnd no one's there to save youNo you don't know what it's likeWelcome to my lifeWelcome to my lifeWelcome to my life

Tess strummed the last note of the song and smiled "So, what do you think?" she asked a bewildered looking Shane. "I-I-I-" it was Shane's turn to stutter. Tess looked down at her watch "Oh, shit!" she shouted "you're on in twenty minutes!" She shoved her guitar into her bag and stood up. "Come on Shane, let's go! Didn't you hear me you only have eighteen more minutes! Up, up, up!" Tess grabbed his hand and yanked him to his feet. "Tess, that was amazing! Did you write that song by yourself?" "Yeah, but now is not the time to be discussing that! You need to go up there and sing! The record label will be there and if you don't get your little pop star butt up there, they won't think that you've changed at all over the summer!" That seemed to snap Shane back to reality. He grabbed Tess's bags and started to run towards the stage with Tess hot on his heels.

--keep reading--

Tess and Shane arrived at the main stage with only a few minutes to spare. Everyone turned and stared as the two came in. At first no one knew who it was (Tess looked completely different then she had for the past two summers, like her wavy hair and bell-bottom jeans) then, when they recognized her they were surprised at the fact that Tess was actually showing her face around camp. Then thy all just glared at her. The only acceptations were Mitchie, Peggy (or maybe now she was going by Margrite, she would have to ask later), Ella, Jason, and Nate. Then when Mitchie shoved her Catharine stopped glairing (at least a little).

Tess stood up straight and walked toward her friends. She remembered her mom saying 'a proud woman always keeps her head held high when she is most down' and that was before her mom was a huge star. So she decided that now was the best time to take her mom's advice.

"Hey," Tees said, a little timidly. She was worried that her newly reconciled friends would see how the rest of the camp treated her and decide that she wasn't worth the effort. But thankfully there was a chorus of "hi's" and "Hey's" back. Mitchie glared at a few of the people who were glairing at her and Ella muttered something under her breath that sounded remotely like "poopoo-heads".

Before anyone else could do anything more, though, Brown was on the stage. "Hello campers!" he said in his thick Australian accent **(A.N.- it is Australian, isn't it?)**. "Are you ready to party!?" There was a roar from the crowd that indicated that thy were, indeed, ready to party. "So may I proudly present to you, Connect 3!" And then Shane, Nate and Jason were up on the stage singing 'Play My Music'. Tess experienced it completely differently now that she had last time.. Last time, she had been concentrating about what she was going to do at the end. But now she got up and danced around with her friends (Mitchie even got to go on stage with Shane).

At the end of the song everyone clapped and stood. She saw some people in the back scribbling down things in notepads. There were about 15 of them, so they couldn't all be from the recording company. "Hey Ella, who are those people back there?" She asked, tapping her friend on her shoulder. Ella turned around "Oh. Those are just some reporters. They figured that if the label didn't like the new sound then those guys could get the word out about their new song. Smart, huh? Jason came up with the idea." Her eyes took on a dreamy state when she was talking about Jason, Tess observed. "Are you guys together?" she asked, not beating around the bush. "Huh" Ella snapped out of her trance and blushed. "Yeah," she said "It's me and Jason, Shane and Mitchie-but you already knew that-, Catharine and Nate, and Barron and Lola." "A lot's happened, hasn't it?" Ella nodded.

Suddenly a limo pulled up. Tess glanced over and did a double take. It couldn't be, could it? It had to be. Tess nearly shouted. But maybe the limo was just for her, her mom probably wasn't in it. But then the door opened and out stepped T.J. Tyler. And for one brief moment Tess's heart soared. For one moment everything in Tess's life was perfect. But moments don't last forever, and the moment was soon shattered into a million pieces, never to be put back together again. Because that's when T.J. Tyler screamed "Where's that bitch!?" and it became quite obvious that she was very drunk.

**D****un dun dun! I don't know when I'll be able to update next, I have been kicked off the computer numerous times by my sister. Thank you for the many reviews, they inspire me to write more. So, the purple button down there is begging you to push it. So please, do.  
Thanx for reading!**

**P.S. I didn't really proofead this chapter, so i'm sorry if there is a bunch of mistakes in it XD**


	9. Chapter 9

**Here is the next chapter! I basically wrote this all to ay after going through major writers block, so please forgive me if it's not the best chapter I've written. . Enjoy! **

Tess gasped. This was not good. This was not good at all. Her mom was here. Drunk. Tess felt like crying then. Everything had been going perfectly. You knew I wouldn't last, though she said to herself mentally. But instead of crying she just took a deep breath and plastered a big, fake smile on her face. She could prevent something truly horrible from happening, or at least make sure that what was to come had an excuse to go with it. She calmly walked down to her mother, still smiling and said "Mom, would you like to go on a walk?" Tess offered her arm to her mother praying to God that she would take it. But apparently God wasn't listening. "Shut the fuck up you hag! How dare you, you ungrateful little bitch!!" T.J. shouted and shoved Tess away from her. Tess heard pens scratching against paper and camera's clicking, which probably meant that the reporters had snapped out of their initial shock were doing their job. She would not let her mothers reputation go down like this. She looped her arm around her mothers waist and began dragging her mother towards the nearest cabin (she finally had enough food in her system that she had enough strength to do that).

Halfway she had to clamp her hand around her mothers mouth to muffle the swearing, which she promptly chomped down on causing blood to ooze from her hand. Biting back curses, Tess eventually got her mom to the front door.

Once the door was safely closed and locked behind her Tess removed her hand from her mom's mouth. "How DARE you!" T.J. shouted as Tess frantically ran around the room closing the blinds. Faster then Tess thought possible for a drunk women, her mother sprang up and began walking toward her. "Are you seven listening to me you bitch!" she shouted as she shoved Tess back into a wall which knocked the air out of her lungs.

As she slid down the wall to the floor her mother began kicking her. But suddenly there was a knock on the door, and they both froze with T.J. about to kick Tess and Tess bracing herself for it. "Tess, are you in there?" a worried voice shouted. It was Shane. Tess grinned despite how very odd it was to do at the time. Someone cared. That was all she had ever wanted, and she had gotten it. "Yeah, I'm fine," Tess lied easily. "Just talking to my mom."

Suddenly her mother picked her up by her shirt, punched her, and threw her against another wall. Unfortunately for Tess, this one had a full-length mirror on it. Tess bit back a scream as glass shattered all around her. Glass shards punctured Tess' back and she could feel the blood flowing.

T.J. started over too her daughter and walked into her arm on her way to a vase (only she knew what she would do with that). Tess whimpered. And to her horror, an evil glint came into her mothers eyes.

T.J. lifted Tess off the floor and began to twist her arm. Tess gasped in pain. "Stop, mom, please," Tess begged. T.J. only laughed and kept going. There was a skinning crack and then Tess bit back a scream. "Little bitch. You need to be taught a lesson, don't you?" T.J. grabbed the vase as Tess crumpled to the ground. There was a frantic pounding at the door. "Tess, what's going on it there?" one voice said. It was Ella. "Yeah Tess, come on! Open up!" Mitchie yelled. "If you don't answer us soon I'll break this door down!" Shane shouted right after.

Again, Tess smiled. "I'm fine you guys, just give me a minute. I accidentally knocked a lamp down, I'm picking it up." She was relieved that they hadn't heard her mom's shouts yet.

By then T.J. was in front of her. The vase had been broken somehow and her mother was holding the bottom half. She smiled and began to go at Tess with the jagged edge. Tess couldn't help herself. She started to scream an ear-splitting scream, but covered her hand with her mouth. That was enough for her friends. Tess hared the door being knocked down and knew it was all over.

In some ways she was kind of sad. I mean she loved her mother despite what she had dome to her. But mostly she felt relived. There was no way her mother could et out of this. They had evidence and witnesses (Tess had studied law at school).

She began to cry out a mixture of the two emotions. She felt herself being scooped up into someone's arms and cried out at he overwhelming amount of pain the was coming from her arm and back. She hared gasps and screams coming from the door. Then she heard two voices that had become familiar to her in the past few days. "Out of the way please, out of the way," came Mrs. Torres' polite voice. Then came the louder, more bossy "Move, people, move! Get out of the way!" that clearly came from Mrs. Rodriguez.

The last thing she remembered before blacking out was the concerned faces of her friends all gathered around, even Caitlin. She felt so, so happy she felt like she would explode from it. And she figured that if she never got up again, she could have died experiencing more happiness then most people felt in there whole life. She had no idea how ironic that thought was.

**O.K. so there is a little purple button down there calling your name. Please leave a review!**

**Thanx for reading. **

**P.S. I'm probably going to be copying some of the other writers ideas and giving a preview to who ever reviews! Even all you people who don't have an account can review, you have no excuse. **


	10. Chapter 10

Shane's POV

Shane tried to scoop Tess up, but she whimpered. That was when her noticed how badly she was wounded. Blood was flowing from her back and she was cradling her left arm. _That must have been the crack. _The thought was sickening. Tess' body was covered in bruises, new and some old.

Suddenly a voice rang out above all the rest of the noise "What!? What are you all staring at!? G-go…." suddenly Ms. Tyler collapsed. The camera flashes were blinding. Shane felt like screaming "What about her daughter!!! You know the one who's bleeding to death RIGHT IN FRONT OF YOU!!!"

"Where is she!?" cried a worried-looking Mrs. Rodriguez with Mrs. Torres right behind her. "Oh my Lord…" Mrs. Rodriguez murmured as soon as she saw Tess. She looked back through the crowd. "Shane, pick Tess up!" she ordered. "But-" he began to protest, but was cut off. "If you want her to live, you will do as I say," she whispered harshly. "Mitchie, Jason, Nate, Mrs. Torres, get a path clear, Caitlin, Ella, Peggy, you come help me get some stuff ready in my cabin," she spun toward Shane again "You know where my cabin is, right?" Shane nodded "Bring her there once they clear out enough space. " He nodded again as the four of them left.

From then on it was all a blur. It felt like it took too long to get a path clear. He ran at full speed through the crowd, and Tess was unconscious by then. He burst in the medical cabin. "Put her on the examination table!" shouted Mrs. Rodriguez. Shane obayed. "Go!" Mrs. R. said immediately after he carefully set her down. "But-" he began to protested. "OUT!!" all four of the females in the room shouted. "O.K., O.K., I'm leaving," Shane said as he slowly backed out of the room.

---------------1 hour later---------------

One hour, two cups of coffee, a quart of ice cream, and a whole lot of pacing later, a much abused-looking Shane heard the distant wail of sirens. Nobody had heard a word from the medical cabin. They had managed to shoo away all of the reporters, which was a huge relief. Nate, Jason, Shane, Mitchie, and Mrs. Torres had been cooped up in the mess hall for the better part of the hour, barely saying a word to each other, but Mrs. Torres had been cooking practically the entire time. However, no one was eating anything apart from a nibble here and there and the coffee.

All of them jumped up at the blaring siren. Shane was the first out the door, followed closely by Mitchie, then Nate and Jason who were fighting to be the next out the door and Mrs. Torres was holding up the end of the line, having to turn off the oven.

They arrived at the medical cabin just as Tess was being rolled out. She looked very pale and glass-like, as if, if someone were to touch her, she would break into a million little pieces. Peggy, Ella, Caitlin, and Mrs. Rodriguez trooped out of the medical cabin.

"How is she?" asked Mrs. Torres as soon as they met up with them. "She's stable. I think she'll make it." "You _think?_" Shane asked. "Nothing's final yet, Shane," Peggy said, looking like she had been through hell. We're just gonna have to wait it out," Mrs. Rodriguez said sadly. "Can we go to the hospital?" Mitchie asked hopefully. "It will take a while," Mrs. Torres warned. "We know," Caitlin whispered, speaking up for the first time. Exchanging a quick glance, the two adults nodded. "I'll go speak to Brown, Connie, you go pull the cars up and around, kids you go with her." They all nodded and split up.

---------------15 minutes later-------------

They were on their way to the hospital. This was supposed to be a summer camp for music, not med school for the love of Peat! They were supposed to have fun! Not go to the hospital because the camp bitch who had recently become their friend again had gotten beaten up by her mother who just happened to be a famous pop star. That was twisted. "How long until we get there?" asked Nate, who was in the car with Mrs. Torres along with Caitlin, Shane, and Mitchie. In the other car there was Mrs. Rodriguez, Jason, Ella, and Peggy. Mitchie leaned against Shane. "This is my fault. I was in her cabin all summer. I could have figured it out. It's all my fault-" Shane cut her off "This isn't anyone's fault except for T.J. Tyler," he said the name with venom. "Speaking of, where is she?" asked Nate. "When she woke up she decided it was best if she left," Caitlin said. She was pressing her forehead against the window. "Cat, are you feeling alright?" Mitchie asked, concerned. She nodded quietly and closed her eyes.

----------------1 hour later---------------

"Shane. Shane, wake up!" _Thank God _he thought _it was just a dream._ "Were at the hospital!" Shane bolted up, catching Mitchie, who had been the one to try to wake him up, off guard. Shane crashed into her and they both tumbled out of the car, groaning. "Sorry," Shane mumbled getting up and offering a hand to Mitchie. "No problem," Mitchie replied with a weak smile and using his hand to hull herself up. They walked over to the rest of the group who was waiting for them already.

"Let's head in inside," Mrs. Torres said. The group headed toward the hospital in silence, each lot in their own thoughts. "Welcome to Mercy medical Hospital, how may I help you?" the nurse at the front desk said in a monotone voice. "Hi, were looking for Tessalyn Tyler," Mrs. Torres said briskly. Peggy and Ella shot each other a _whoopsie, we didn't think that she'd say that _look. The nurse typed the name into her computer "She just got out of ICU, she's in stable condition, but only three of you can go visit her at a time. Who's gonna go first?" she asked. Peggy and Ella stepped forward in unison. "I'll go with you guys," Mitchie said. The nurse nodded "O.K., so here," she said handing them bright green wrist bands that she scribbled on "She's on the third floor room 722. If you get lost just ask a doctor or a nurse you see in the hallways. They'd be happy to help. Have a nice day!" Mitchie, Peggy, and Ella went to go wait for an elevator. "Here's the rest of the wrist bands," the nurse said, handing them six more wrist bands "You guys can wait in the lounge, or the gift shop is down the hall to your right," she finished. "Thank you for our help," Mrs. Torres said.

"Ok, you guys, if anyone thought to bring money with them and wants to get something foe Tess, go ahead. Everyone else, follow me to the lobby," Mrs. Rodriguez said.

"I've got ten dollars. You have anything, Shane?" Nate asked him. "Ummm….,"Shane looked through his pockets "I don't think so. I put what ever was left of my money in one of my bags. I wasn't expecting a spontaneous trip to the hospital." "None of us were," Caitlin whispered. Nate looked up, worried. "Hey Cat, You want to go to the gift store with me?" Caitlin nodded and they walked away.

In Maine 2 hours ago

_Ring ring ring _"I got it!" shouted Tamara Mendez shouted. "Hello," she said as she picked up the phone. "Hello, is this the Mendez residence?" asked a female voice on the other line. "It is. May I ask who's calling?" Tamara inquired. "This is Dr. Malone from Mercy hospital. I'm calling regarding Tessalyn Tyler. May I speak to Mr. John Mendez?" "Tess? Is she O.k.? What happened?" the questions came rushing to her before she could stop herself. "I need to speak to Mr. John Mendez," was all the lady said. "Dad!" I shouted "There's a Doctor on the phone! She said it was about Tess!"

Her father walked out of his room fully dressed with a surprised look on his face. "Tess? What about her?" her asked. "I don't know because her didn't tell me anything!" Tamara said, exasperated. Her dad frowned and picked up the phone and, after a series of "year's" and "uh-huh's" set it down and looked at Tamara. "We're going on a road trip," he said in a low voice.

**I'm so, so incredibly sorry that I didn't put this up sooner. I'm also sorry if parts of this don't make sense, I wrote some of this from 12:00 A.M.-4:30A.M. Thank you so much for having never ending patience with me! I'll try really, really hard to get the next (and maybe final?) chapter up soon. Thank you for taking the time to read this!**

**Livelaughlove,**

**Kitty ^.^**

**P.S.- Please don't get the ninjas on me!!! :)  
**


	11. Chapter 11

**Last chapter!!! I can't believe that the story is finished. I hope you like it! Disclaimer: I own nothing but Tess' sister and father. **

Mitchie's POV

_This isn't happening. This isn't happening. _and as much as Mitchie would like to have believed that that was true, when she opened her eyes and saw the plain white walls, she knew it wasn't. Mitchie sighed heavily and glanced over at her friends. Shane was looking up at the ceiling as if it were the most interesting book in the world, Caitlin, after she had gotten back from the gift shop with Nate, curled herself up into a ball and might or might not have fallen asleep. Mrs. Torres was patently reading a magazine and Mrs. Rodriguez was, strangely enough, madly texting away at her phone. Nate was pacing back and forth in front of all of them and Jason had gone to get a drink of water from the water fountain. They had all gone to see Tess already and she was still asleep. _What if she goes into a coma? _Mitchie thought franticly. _What if she ends up like one of those people who is a vegetable until she's, like, 30 then her family can't pay the hospital bills no matter how many fund raisers they have so they have to pull the plug and Tess dies because of her mother! _

It had already been about four and a half hours and there had been no change. Suddenly out of the revolving doors stepped a man and a girl who looked to be oddly familiar….

"Hello, we're looking for Tessalyn Tyler," the man said. The reception desk lady looked up. "She's in stable condition and she's on the third floor in room 722. Those people over there are here to see them, too." As soon as the girl turned around there was no mistaking it. "Tamara! Is that you?!" Mitchie shouted to the other teen. Tamara's head shot up "Mitchie!" she shouted "What are you doing here?" "I'm here to visit your sister. We were at the same summer camp." Both girls gave each other a hug and turned toward the bewildered facer of the other Camp Rocks.

"Everyone, this is my next-door neighbor back home, Tamara Mendez and her dad, Mr. John Mendez. They, apparently, are the father and sister to Tess." Mr. Mendez walked up to them and handed his daughter a wrist band. "Hey Mitchie, how have you been?" he asked warily. "Alright, how about you?" He simply smiled and nodded saying "I'm gonna be O.K." "Well we should probably be going to visit Tess," Tamara announced. "We'll be back in a few minutes."

Tess's POV

Blackness. That's all Tess saw. It had been a while since she had seen anything besides that . It was getting quite dull, actually. She tried opening her eyes, but they felt as is they weighed a ton each. Growing more and more frustrated by the second, Tess tried and failed to move anything, her hands, toes, mouth eyelids, but nothing worked. She pictured all of her friends standing around her, concerned looks plastered to their faces. She imagined them all being sad or disappointed that she hadn't gotten up yet. She had barely gotten her friends back, she wasn't about to loose them so quickly.

She twitched her hand. She imagined herself living with her sister and her dad. She moved her leg. She imagined herself with a happy family, surrounded by people who cared about people who cared about _her _Tess Tyler, not just T.J. Tyler's kid.

Tess opened her eyes and saw them. People who cared. Her father and her sister had come for her because they loved her. And that's all she had ever asked for.

Epilogue

"Tess! Whatcha dooin?" Ella asked, bounding into her cabin. Tess looked up from the book she was reading. "Just reading a book. What's up?" she asked, carefully placing a bookmark into her book. "I was just wondering if you would want to come with me to my parents beach house for a week or so?" Tess blinked in suprise. "I would love to go!" she shouted running over to Ella and hugging her. "Yay!" Ella shouted.

A few minutes later Tess found out that Mitchie, Peggy, Caitlin, and even Tamara were going to the beach house, too. The members of Connect 3 were going to start a brand new tour in a few days and were going to have to go home and get ready, though. As they all said their goodbyes Jason suddenly yelled "Group hug!" and they all, willingly or unwillingly, were pulled into it. "Much better!" he exclaimed.

And as they handed out their facebooks, myspaces, IMs, and cell phone numbers they all knew that this friendship was going to last a long time. And sometimes you just get this really awesome feeling in your gut and you know that everything is going to be alright. That's what Tess was feeling. Whatever happened from now on she would have her friends with her.

**Yea, I know, the ending wasn't all that great. I got writers block and I couldn't think of anything, so I tried working through it and this is what came out. I hope you review!! It would mean the world to me if you did. Here are all of the awesome people who reviewed so far: Blondemoment, mrsjjonas13,** **'Mrs. Nick J' Ashley 'N' Amy, SickMasochisticLion, supersweet4ever, writerchick786, The Oh So Bored One, Authoress-in-training, , Feedbeauty, XxGravity-Help-MexX, HugsXandXskittles, Jonasbrotherslover, Kamiya Hana, 5x5shadow5, and pinkie maz. Thank you so, so much for telling me what you though about the story! I am incredibly sorry for having such long periods between the chapters. I hope you see if I ever have another story and review. And to all you people out there who didn't review, thanks for reading the story, I hope you liked it (but I wouldn't know!). Any who thanks again for reading! So I think the authors note might be longer then the story so I should probably cut it off here ****J**

**Love ya!**

**Kitty ^.^**


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